The Three Hunters Hunt Again
by ScribeofHeroes
Summary: A friendly wrestling match turns into teamwork troll hunting.


**I neither own nor created Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Middle Earth or any of its kingdoms. Tolkien did, and I am eternally grateful to him. **

**This story is for entertainment purposes only, so please read and be entertained. **

**This story takes place after the destruction of the ring, the crowning of Aragorn, and the settling of Aglarond by dwarves and Ithilien by elves. **

My men stared with wide eyes for a moment. Then they burst into laughter. They had never seen this before. I had, so I only chuckled at it.

Legolas and Gimli were rolling about on the ground while trying to pin each other to it. Gimli could never beat Legolas at archery, and Legolas had no desire to learn how to wield an ax. So, the two had decided wrestling was the best competition to have with each other between skirmishes with The Enemy's surviving servants.

It was like watching a bear cub fighting a fawn. Gimli's short limbs were difficult for Legolas to grab. The elf's reflexes made him difficult to grab as well. I was glad they were both off their feet now.

If the dwarf bowled his friend over with too much force he could break one of Legolas' limbs. Dwarves are like thrown stones when sprinting. Legolas knocking his friend over was not smart either. Tackling Gimli was like tackling a boulder. Thankfully Gimli had this time jerked one of Legolas' feet out from under him. Now that both had a hold of each other, the match would be decided by who would come up on top. The only rule was neither could use any weapon, but themselves, upon each other. Yet, in their rolling, neither was straying too far from their weapons lying in the grass.

Something moved atop the nearby hill. I looked up. A pair of trolls stood there. Each was armed with clubs longer than their arms. They rushed down towards our party. I shouted a warning.

The rangers shot to their feet, grabbing their bows, and formed up. The two wrestlers leapt apart. The elf was the closest to the pile of their belongings. He threw the dwarf his axe before strapping up his knives sheath. Then he and the dwarf rushed madly at the charging trolls. Gimli gave his usual battle cry.

"RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

One troll swung at Legolas. The elf ducked nimbly underneath the sweep and stabbed the monster in the kneecap. After jerking the blade out, he rolled between the trolls splayed legs. He was now behind his foe.

Meanwhile, the other troll had swung at Gimli. The dwarf side-stepped, and the troll missed. As he raised his club again, Gimli rushed forward. He brought his ax down on the troll's toe, cutting it to the bone. The troll gave a shout and swung the club at him again. Gimli dashed between the troll's legs. The troll hit his own injured foot. Now both elf and dwarf were safely behind the targets. I shouted the order.

"Fire!"

Ithilien's rangers rained arrows upon the trolls. The barrage did not hurt their stone hides more than splinters, but a rain of splinters is not pleasant. The monsters began to back up. Legolas threw Gimli an end of a rope from Lothlorien. Gimli caught it, and they drew the cord taunt. The trolls' feet ran into the line. They fell to the earth. With another cry the dwarf leapt at one of the troll's throats. Legolas silently did the same to the other.

They were both cleaning the troll blood off their weapons when my rangers and I approached. I was shaking my head with a smile.

"Both of you are making my warriors soft."

The dwarf turned to me with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, wearing thin our welcome are we?"

The elf did not look up from polishing his blade as he added, "I would think, mellon nin, the proper thing to say would be, 'Thank you my friends. The execution of your plan has been the destruction of two of my realm's enemies.'" The elf then looked up and flashed me his mischievous grin.

During the visit of my fellow hunters, a report had come in that Gondor farms were being raided. The raiders left nothing alive or shiny behind them, but they did leave footprints like Oliphants. It had not taken a ranger to realize trolls left over from the war had grown tired of hiding and not eating well. So we had come. I would have had to lock Legolas and Gimli in the dungeons to leave them behind.

They both had found a common quest in letting no harm come to me. Arwen and just about everyone else in the northern and southern kingdom were grateful. I was beginning to feel like more of a throne warmer than a warrior.

When we arrived, the trolls were well fed and not eager to show themselves. It had not been hard to find their cave, but no one goes into the monsters' den unless they are foolish or it is absolutely necessary. However, our quarry refused to come out. The trolls were full, satisfied with their plunder, and no more eager to meet their end than any other. We called down some insults, hoping it would cause them to charge us in the open, but they had simply dared us to come in after them. It could have been a long wait. Then Legolas and Gimli had devised a plan.

We made camp just over the ridge of their hole. We then caught, prepared, cooked, and ate an excellent meal even filled trolls would be jealous of. Not long after the meal, Legolas and Gimli had begun to wrestle. Ithilien's finest rangers and I had sat leisurely back to watch, bows and arrows near at hand.

The trolls had taken the opportunity to avenge themselves upon us and died in the taking. As my fellow hunters had thought, the trolls were just intelligent enough to know distracted enemies were best to attack, and just stupid enough not to expect a trap. No more farmers would lose their stock, nor would Gondor lose anymore of its farmers to these two. None of my men had been killed, wounded, or even come close to harm. Legolas and Gimli were right, I owed them my thanks. I turned to the dwarf, putting my fist to my heart, and bowing deeply at the waist, I spoke in Khuzdul.

"My deepest gratitude, Lord of the Glittering Caves." Then I turned to the elf. Placing an open hand over my heart, I bowed my head and spoke in Silvan."Thank you, Mighty Elf Warrior of Ithilien."

They and Ithilien's finest rangers chuckled at my dramatics.

Legolas removed his sheath from himself, and knelt to place it gently on the grass, eyes on the dwarf, "Well, now there is only one more thing to be done." Understanding, the dwarf threw away his ax, crouched low, and then rushed the elf.

"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

I winced, but the elf stepped aside, reached down, and grabbed his friend's arm. The dwarf grabbed his back. Then, once more, Elf and Dwarf, Lord of the glittering caves and leader of the elves healing the Reclaimed Woods of Ithilien, were rolling about on the turf. Once more my rangers laughed aloud, and I shook my head with a grin.

**One of my wonderful reviewers pointed out Legolas was not the elven King of Ithilien nor was Gimli the King of the Glittering Caves as Aragorn addressed them in the first draft of this story I posted. I attempted to re-post it twice without this error, yet somehow left it in. Hopefully this fourth time it is finally fixed. **

**Reviews are much appreciated and often responded to. **


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